Vocabulary Problems
by No-Face
Summary: A very short fic about a very troublesome subject.


Sasami yawned at the sight of rain out the window. Dreary weather always made her sleepy. All of her chores were done, and since the weather was bad, there wasn't much to do.  
She started thinking about how she used to pass the time back home, when she had school. She and her friends always used to make arts and crafts, and it was always a lot of fun. She decided it would be a great thing to do during the rain.  
She skipped into Washu's lab and hollered, "Little Washuuuuuuuuuuu! I need your help in making stuff!"  
Washu paused the program her holo laptop was running, and she said, "Gonna make stuff, eh? Whatchya need?"  
Sasami didn't think things this far. She began swaying nervously side to side. "Um... I don't know... paper... I guess... and... uh... glue..."  
Washu smiled. "I know, I'll just give you a bunch of stuff to work with, and let your creativity pick out what you need."  
Sasami smiled cheered, "Yeah! That's great Washu!"  
Washu laughed, rustled Sasami's hair, and materialized all of the crafts into her hands. Sasami bowed and left while saying, "Thanks a bunch little Washu!"  
Back in the living room, Sasami got to work on her art project. She started looking through the equipment for ideas, and the moment she saw the pink construction paper she new it was going to be a card. She folded it in two halves, and began planning what the card would say. It took her a whole hour and a half, but she was proud of the results....  
  
Aeka, Mihoshi, Washu, Tenchi, Ryoko, Nobuyuki, and Yosho were all gathered together into the living room by Sasami. She announced, "I spent a whole lot of time making a present for the whole family!"  
They all smiled warmly. Tenchi asked, "What is it, Sasami?"  
Sasami pulled out the card from behind and cheered, "Ta-da!"  
There was a modest round of applause.  
Sasami handed the card to Tenchi and said, "It's a card that says a lot!"  
Tenchi sat down onto the couch and everyone gathered around him. On the front cover were sparkles and miniature stars glued onto the surface. All of the letters were cut out from construction paper, and formed a rainbow of words.  
Tenchi read it aloud. "I had nothing to do, so what I did for you, was make this card, that was really hard. Even when it's a pain, and all it does is rain, I still think that everyone, can have lots of fun!"  
Everyone smiled and there was another round of applause.  
Tenchi opened the inside and read, "I just wanted to say, to Ryoko, Aeka, Mihoshi, Little Washu, Tenchi, Big Brother, and Tenchi's dad, that you're all okay! I love you all, no matter how the rain falls. Love, Sasami."  
Everyone in the room had a tear in their eye. Tenchi hugged Sasami tightly and said, "Sasami, you're so adorable!"  
The female members of the household all cooed, "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!" And they all took turns hugging Sasami.  
Aeka said, "That was very good, Sasami! Those rhymes were so clever."  
Mihoshi said, "Yeah, Sasami, those were so smart! The smarteset rhymes I've ever heard!"  
Sasami scratched the back of her head and said, "Well... maybe..."  
Washu took the opportunity to hug Sasami a second time and say, "You're such a cute kid, Sasami."  
Ryoko teleported next to Sasami and knelt down onto her knees. She laughed and said, "Way to go, Sasami! It took a lot of guts to express yourself like that. You're a real slut."  
Profound silence gripped the room and squeezed out everyone last molecule of air. The entire room except for Sasami and Ryoko had frozen solid in disgusted shock.  
Sasami laughed and said, "Thanks Ryoko! But... what does 'slut' mean?"  
Ryoko scratched her chin and said, "Hmm... it's hard to explain..."  
Tenchi abruplty cut in, "Ryoko... um... perhaps you should save the explination until she's a little older..."  
Ryoko laughed, "Until she's older? Why? She's such an adorable little slut, she might as well know what it means."  
Aeka stood ridgidly. She fiercely fought down her temper and coldly said, "Ryoko, you of all people have no right to say who is a slut and who isn't a slut."  
Ryoko stood as well and matched her glare. "I sure as hell think I do! I'm a slut too, after all!"  
Another mind blowing silence strangled the room for all its worth.  
Nobuyuki started his way up stairs and said, "I've got some extra work to do... great card Sasami, I loved it..."  
Yosho then said, "The shrine will need to be cleaned. Thank you for your kind words Sasami, they were very clever..." He then exited out the front door.  
A few moments later Mihoshi quietly said, "Um... I'm confused."  
Tenchi then added, "Actually... I am too. Ryoko, why are you calling yourself... um... that?"  
Ryoko tore her death gaze from Aeka and relaxed her shoulders. She said, "I don't usually congratulate myself much, but this is one title I think I deserve. I really am a slut, Tenchi! I have no reason to hide it!"  
Aeka muttered, "I don't believe this... I can't believe I once thought highly of you. I thought you're blunt behavior was because of your courage, but that certainly isn't the case."  
Sasami suddenly cut in. "Hey! What does 'slut' mean?! I'm really confused here!"  
Mihoshi added, "Yeah! I'm confused too!"  
Ryoko crossed her arms and said, "It means to show your feelings."  
Tenchi quietly said, "Uh... Ryoko... that's not what it means."  
Ryoko shook her head, "That's bullshit! I've heard it used a whole bunch of times, and it's always when people are showing their feelings or their bodies to each other. It means to show something, and it's usually about love and making love!" Ryoko had a bit of a blush when she said this.  
Washu, who was deathly quiet the moment Ryoko spoke the word, made her presence known. "It means to be hated."  
Ryoko spun around to see Washu standing behind her. She was startled to see that her eyes were glossy, as if tears were building within. Washu then said, "What I mean is... it is used in a hateful way. There is nothing possitive about the word what-so-ever. No matter how you repackage it or turn it around or put it into new light, it is an insulting, degrading, and disgraceful word."  
A tear rolled down Washu's cheek as she shuddered and said, "Please, Ryoko... don't ever call yourself a slut ever again. Please..."  
Ryoko had her head dropped. She said, "Washu... uh... mom... I don't understand."  
Washu stepped forward to hug Ryoko, and Ryoko knelt down to embrace her tiny mother. Washu said, "You're not a slut, Ryoko. You're not..."  
"Mom..."  
A few more stray tears escaped Washu before she all together wept. Several long moments passed before Aeka knelt beside Sasami and quietly said, "Hey Sasami, why don't we go take a bath together? I'll get Ryo-Ohki, and Mihoshi can come too..."  
Sasami was still distracted by the scene unfolding in the room, but she quietly said, "Sure... okay..."  
Aeka nodded towards Mihoshi, and the three of them made their leave.  
A few moments after they left, Ryoko picked up Washu and carried her to the couch next to where Tenchi sat. Washu sat between them with her head resting on Ryoko's shoulder.  
Ryoko said, "Did I do something wrong?"  
With a sad smile, Tenchi said, "No, Ryoko. It's just a misunderstanding."  
Washu asked, "Ryoko, how did you first learn about that word?"  
Ryoko glanced up and said, "Uh... I think it was a few months ago. It was when Tenchi's cousin Kyo came to visit."  
Tenchi huffed with disgust and said, "Kyo? I'm not surprised. He's so rude I'm shocked he's a member of my family. Did he call you that, Ryoko? I'll be sure to knock some sense into him next time..."  
Ryoko shook her head and said, "Well, not really. I was napping up in my usual spot, and I woke up when I heard him and Aeka talking while sitting right here. I watched them for a little while, since I had nothing better to do. They were going through the photo album, and then came the page that had a bunch of photos of you and me."  
Ryoko blushed again and hesitantly said, "They were pictures of me hugging you and trying to kiss you. There were a lot of them, and in some of them I was trying really hard. He pointed to me in the picture and asked, 'whose the slut?' That was the very first time I ever heard the word. I remember Aeka had a strange reaction, too. Her face turned a little red, and she looked upset. I thought it was because she was jealous that Kyo called me a slut and not her."  
Washu said, "She was probably angry at Kyo. Being called... that... is a pretty heavy insult. To put it into terms... it's like the word 'bitch' a thousand times over."  
Ryoko was silent. Her head dropped and she lifted her hand to hide her eyes. She said, "I'm such an idiot."  
Washu wrapped her arm around Ryoko and brought her head down onto her tiny shoulder. She said, "You didn't know, Ryoko. You're not an idiot. I like your version of the word better. In a way your definition has a whole lot of truth to it."  
With her eyes still hidden, Ryoko whimpered, "... I... I would always tell myself... that I was a good person... because I was a slut... I'm such a fool..." She then broke into sobs.  
Washu tried her best to hug her daughter who was twice her size. After several long moments Ryoko said, "I still don't understand. If Kyo called me a slut because I was showing my love for Tenchi, then how is it a bad word?"  
Tenchi said, "... It's a very complicated word. I'm not really sure if I can explain it right, but I'll try. You're right that the people who get called that word are only showing their affection or their bodies to others, and that alone is not a bad thing. You see... it's... it's a word people use to hurt each other. Like how you might use a bat to hurt someone. The bat is not an offensive object, but a person can use it to hit someone."  
Ryoko said, "I still don't understand. If showing your feelings and your body is a good thing, then how come people made up this hurtful word for it?"  
Tenchi hesitantly said, "Well... not everyone reacts well to seeing someone nude. I... uh... myself... sometimes feel... uh.... a little strange about it. I know you're very used to it, Ryoko, but a lot of people on this planet aren't. Especially when it comes to nudity of a beautiful woman. In men it invokes an extremely powerful reaction, and sometimes that reaction can take control. It's a very intimidating feeling to be controlled by someone else, especially when all you had to do was look at them. To counter this intimidation, men use a thousand and one different ways to hurt women who are beautiful and affectionate. "They don't want to admit to others that they wouldn't be able to control themselves if they were in the same room as a beautiful woman who was nude. So they degrade that woman as much as possible, until that feeling of lack of control is gone. In reality they still have no control, the only difference is that they are allowing it to run them. A man who acts like that and claims he is doing so intentionally is lying to himself."  
Ryoko dried her eyes and lifted from Washu's shoulder. Washu said, "If you really think about it, there's no such thing as a slut. It's a ficticious concept that never really existed to begin with. The word is merely a tool, like Tenchi's example with the bat, that men use so they don't feel as though they are being controlled. No matter which way you look at it, the men are at the mercy of the women that they claim they have dominance over."  
Ryoko said, "But... I'm still confused! If it's a degrading word then how come the girls don't just break the guy's arms and walk out?"  
Tenchi frowned and said, "On this planet, men are stronger than women almost all of the time. How it usually plays out is... an affectionate woman will find someone she likes, and then the man will feel intimidated by her boldness. He'll then try to control her when she's vulnerable, and she'll be unable to escape when she needs to most. She'll have no other choice but to go along with it. On the outside it seems as though the woman purposely put herself into a difficult spot. A synonym for slut is masochist. Do you know what masochist means?"  
Ryoko sighed, "Yeah I know what that one means. It's someone who gets off on being humiliated or mistreated."  
Tenchi nodded. "Yes... because it seems like they're putting themselves into difficult positions on purpose, people assume that they enjoy being mistreated, and go out of their way to abuse them. The worse part about it, is that it all starts when a beautiful affectionate woman finds someone who would like to be with."  
Ryoko asked, "Why can't guys just enjoy a spontaneous relationship without feeling intimidated or controlled?"  
Tenchi laughed and said, "I have no idea."  
There was another long silence in the room, but the grip in the air was loosening, and it seemed as though it would be the last silence of the night.  
Ryoko stood and stretched. She said, "I'm gonna go to the bath and explain this to the others."  
Washu said, "Are you sure? They probably figured out that it was just a big misunderstanding."  
Ryoko shrugged. "Yeah, maybe... but I just wanted to talk to them... just to make sure the record is striaght."  
"Alright, honey. Have a good time."  
Ryoko smiled and vanished.  
Tenchi said, "Wow."  
Washu laughed and nodded.  
"Never in a million years would I have imagined something like that..."  
Washu said, "You know Tenchi, she's actually a year younger than Sasami."  
He laughed and said, "You're not joking, are you..."  
Washu shook her head. "We were together for seven years before Kagato captured us. Whenever I look into her memory of those times all I see is static. It's as if she never lived those days, and in a way I'm grateful for that. The cave is something she did live consciously, but in the same way a person experiences cryogenic hibernation. Her mind was pushed into deep sleep, and all of her dreams were nightmares up until you were born. It's only been a year since she was released. Sasami turned nine last February, and Ryoko will be eight next month."  
Tenchi sat forward and leaned on his knees. He dropped his head and laughed. "Wow... Ryoko is going to be eight years old... You wouldn't imagine by the way she acts."  
Washu smiled and said, "There are a lot of little things that only a mother would notice. She's still afraid of the dark, she's always making a mess no matter what she's doing, she never cleans up after herself, she accidentally breaks things, and she rough houses...  
"On the outside it would look like she's an irrisponsible woman who refuses to grow up. But when I look at her I see my prescious and innocent little girl."  
Tenchi smiled and said, "Perhaps we should make a habit of not going by what's on the outside."  
Washu nodded. She then said, "You know Tenchi, I was really surprised on how knowledgeable you sounded. I was about to explain things to her, but you took off on your own before I could."  
Tenchi laughed and said, "Well... when you're surrounded by lots of beautiful and affectionate women, you really get to thinking about stuff like that. It's a subject that I've thought about very hard for a very long time, and I've come to understand a lot of things about it."  
Washu became quiet and she looked to the floor. After a moment she said, "Tenchi... she is very vulnerable. She's only eight years old, but her body is seventeen years old. It's a deadly combination. There are a lot of people who wouldn't hesitate to manipulate her, and she's still very impressionable. She may not think so, but she is. I'm not asking you to make a life choice here... only.... even if she isn't the one for you, can you still protect her?"  
Tenchi nodded almost immidiatly. "Of course, Washu."  
Washu smiled with deep relief. She then leaned up and kissed Tenchi on the cheek. "You're a good man, Tenchi."  
Tenchi had no response as Washu quietly went back to her lab. A few moments later Tenchi went to his room to turn in early. 


End file.
